Advertising vocations

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chovy
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I have seen it done in Philadelphia and I think there is suppose to be an ad campaign starting here in Detroit
 
Chovy said:
I was sitting in Mass this weekend praying for vocations and something struck me. Why do we not advertise more for vocations? I don’t mean mentioning the need for vocations at Mass, I mean actually ADVERTISING the benefits and other positive outcomes of choosing religious life on the radio, on TV, on billboards, etc.
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Great idea, friend. Advertising on Facebook for vocations is what we do here at Vocation Promotion. Religious communities and dioceses can reach potential candidates with our Test Your Call survey. Go to VocationPromotion.com. 🙂
 
Advertising for vocations is putting the cart before the horse if people have never been taught and have regularly PRACTICED methods for turning within–meditation, prayer, self-inquiry, contemplation, mindfulness, surrender and selfless service. Ascertaining a call to religious life is an inside job and our typical Western take in general is much too outer directed. When we learn to send love into our own heart over and over again as a regular practice, we eventually come to revel in the bliss of BEING that love itself, and very naturally the desire to know and serve God with our entire life becomes the inevitable response. When we can help young people refocus their attention and help them remain grounded in this inner sensation of connectedness to God in everything around them as well as in their own heart, THEN there is the possibility that advertising for vocations will become effective.
 
pamkowal said:
Advertising for vocations is putting the cart before the horse if people have never been taught and have regularly PRACTICED methods for turning within–meditation, prayer, self-inquiry, contemplation, mindfulness, surrender and selfless service. Ascertaining a call to religious life is an inside job and our typical Western take in general is much too outer directed. When we learn to send love into our own heart over and over again as a regular practice, we eventually come to revel in the bliss of BEING that love itself, and very naturally the desire to know and serve God with our entire life becomes the inevitable response. When we can help young people refocus their attention and help them remain grounded in this inner sensation of connectedness to God in everything around them as well as in their own heart, THEN there is the possibility that advertising for vocations will become effective.
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I don’t think this even makes sense in Buddhism, much less Catholicism. For Catholics, the religious life is objectively a superior state in life. It removes the impediments to holiness. It allows you to live by the Evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. This is the best way to live, according to Christ. It’s a mistake to encourage people to become practiced in these things before they enter into religious life because the life itself is meant to teach you and support you in your endeavors. It’s not a state of life meant for the perfect, but those being perfected.
 
Yes, of course the religious life is a journey towards a perfected way of being. My point is that unless we create an environment that values and fosters interiority from a young age and makes the inner life an integral and critical part of our children’s developmental unfoldment, it will not become a valued outcome for youth as they approach the age at which they make critical decisions regarding their adult pursuits. The lure of outer pleasures and material success will be the ‘go to’ mode of life for the majority unless another way of being is presented as a valid and equal option by their families, their schools and their church right from the start.
 
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